Freshman year. I was bawling because I didn’t understand the economics assignment I had due in the morning. My parents begged me to sleep, yet I convinced myself that my mental health and sleep were disposable, whereas an unfinished assignment would mean the end of me.

This was just the beginning of my struggle with mental health and for a while, I had no resources. Many of my peers were in a similar place, struggling to stay afloat in a sea of assignments, tests, and commitments. 

According to the World Health Organization, half of teens with mental health disorders start to show signs by the time they’re 14 years old. This is around the time they are starting high school. For many, school can be one of the biggest stressors. When you type “School makes me…” into Google, commonplace autocomplete responses are: sad, angry, cry, stressed and tired. 

The mental health of America’s youth is growing into a concerning issue. Professionals have seen more cases of young adults with severe depression and anxiety than ever before. One in three teens will deal with an anxiety disorder at one point in their formative years and one in five teens will struggle with depression by the time they turn 18.

These issues can manifest when left untreated. But the reality is half of students struggling with a mental health disorder will not receive the help they need, as they may not have financial resources for treatments or not have the time to seek out help.

The need for mental health awareness among teens is critical, as suicide is currently the second leading cause of death for individuals aged 10 to 34. Every 100 minutes, a teenager takes their own life. We cannot sit idly by and watch our friends, family, and peers struggle  through issues that could be addressed with proper intervention and care.

When a student is dealing with the burdens of mental illness, it can affect every facet of their life. Their performance in school decreases, their attendance worsens, and they are twice as likely to drop out compared to their counterparts. These consequences may discourage  students and cause them to fall further into the rabbit hole.

Students living with a mental illness may turn to harmful and detrimental coping mechanisms, such as substance abuse and suicidal ideation, because they may not have people in their life who will take notice and care.

Schools are the most opportune place to intervene with these students and check on their welfare. Virginia and New York have signed bills to implement mental health programs into their curriculum starting next year. The education starts as early as pre-K and carries on into their senior year of high school.

Students could largely benefit from having mental health awareness implemented into the school curriculum, because it can help reverse negative effects such as low grades and establish positive habits such as self-love and healthy coping mechanisms.

“According to a 2014 study by the Center for Health and Health Care in Schools, students who receive positive behavioral health interventions see improvements on a range of behaviors related to academic achievement, beyond letter grades or test scores.” Putting this kind of education into schools across the nation has already shown positive effects, making the education system better, as well as lowering the rates of teen depression, anxiety, and suicide. 

School is the best place to intervene in stressful times because it allows students to work on their issues in a collaborative and supportive setting. Sometimes the most comforting thing to those who are dealing with mental illness is to know someone is there to help, because at the darkest points, it can feel like you are alone.

A concern brought up with adding mental health awareness is that it will put more work on underpaid and overworked teachers. However, there are many ways that teachers can help students without having too much work added on. 

Schools with staff psychologists and social workers can help work with teachers to show small ways that they can change their course to help students deal with mental health. Biology teachers could talk about the misfiring of neurotransmitters and how this can contribute to the development of a mental illness. Health teachers can include a small unit on the importance of not only physical health, but also mental health.

For teachers whose classes may not involve mental health awareness directly, there are still ways to contribute to this effort. Staff can be trained on identifying warning signs of mental illness, and interact with the student before it’s too late.

School is one of the main contributing factors to teen mental health issues. By highlighting the importance of staying healthy mentally and implementing positive coping skills within this environment, students will be able to attack problems at the source. Including mental health awareness into school curriculums will give students the resources they need. Although this is not a substitute for actual counseling, it is a way to introduce students to methods to start dealing with their mental health.